Topic: Ads for Online Gaming

[odifiend]

I get my online gameboy advance and gamecube newsletters every so often and under a screenshot and description for two Nintendo first party titles, there will be a third screenshot.  That screenshot in fine print says 'this is a paid advertisement" and is third party title.  This system of sponsoring has been around for ages in the TV, sports, movie and online industry, hell even PGC is sponsored similarly.  So I was wondering why Nintendo couldn't implement this for online gaming.
Nintendo says that they want to make a profit and that people aren't ready to pay for online services yet.  I understand that they want to make a profit but I disagree that people aren't ready to pay yet... because I don't think people (as a whole) will EVER be ready to pay.  Many people can't pay if they know they are being charged directly.  So here's my plan:
Nintendo should bring what ever console online and advertise to people it is free* to play.
People will get online but before entering the game setting will be show a series of *shudder* unskipable trailers of videogames (in the best scenerio), movies and commercials (in the worst case).  How ever many it takes Nintendo to break even or make a profit.  For dialup users this could be modified to be a series of flash ads or something.  They might even try spacing out the advertising so broadband users are hit more heavily due to their faster connection.  As a broadband user, I don't mind taking a couple for the team.
For those who can't stand the ads, there could be a premium plan to get out of watching the ads, hopefully $ 5-10 a month so I could afford it.
Certain games could even contain cookies that will allow more or less mature advertising.  ESRB and federal governments would love that!

That way people couldn't complain that they were paying for online and Nintendo could make a profit.  Having your cake and eating it too.  I think it would suck but it could work.  What do you guys think? Not a poll

P.S.  I not good at T3H CoMPUT3Rs so I don't know if this is technically possible or any of the complications, but it seems sound in theory (at 2:00 AM )

[KDR_11k]

Let aside that most "broadband" connections aren't fast enough to handle streaming properly this sounds interesting. The size could be kept pretty low by using the DivX codec, though you probably can't stream that. Maybe wait ten seconds while the game loads its data and downloads the first ad, then downloads the next one while playing the first... I guess a permanent banner (not too large) during gameplay and videos between matches might work, but they shouldn't pause the match for a commercial break.
NoE has lots of flash ads on their site, so making those shouldn't be that much of a problem. Maybe drawing them could become problematic, but the Cube could use its 3D chip for doing that.
I wonder, could one store those ads in the Audio RAM? That's 4 MB for free usage IIRC, more than enough for ads.

I think online gaming services like Gamespy exist via advertising in the server browser and N had some negotiations with GSI, so maybe that's what they're shooting for.

[odifiend]

KDR, I like the idea of banners as long as they aren't too distracting.  What do you mean broadband connections can't handle streaming properly, though?  Do you mean they have to stop and buffer?  Also you lost me when you were talking about storing ads in Audio RAM.  Do you mean the audio for the ad or the actual ad?  And do you mean the audio RAM on the game disks? (please forgive my ignorance)  
Commerical breaks?  I wasn't even thinking on that level, lol.  I don't know why but that's funny to me.  Commercial breaks would suck but in large, online tournaments they would be a good way to get more sponsors.
IGN has a program kind of similar to what I'm proposing.  Anytime you open a streaming video, a 15-second MSN ad akin to what you'd see on TV proceeds it.  Just double or triple up on the ads.  A permenant banner could probably even decrease the amount of successive ads you have to watch.

[KDR_11k]

The ARAM is a slow but usable part of the GCs RAM. It can't be used for game critical stuff and is a bit large just for sounds. However, it's fast enough to deliver a short video (not decompressed, but can hold the download). IIRC you can take 4MB of the total 8 (or was that 8 of 16?) and store stuff in there like a read cache.
There's no RAM on a disk, though. RAM is writable.

[odifiend]

Okay, thanks for the explanation.

[Nephilim]

I thought about this for the last few years
say they get 400dollars from 1000 views of a banner on a side of a truck, menu bar ect.
Means It would be alot cheaper for both partys, the company hosting and the monthly payier

I mean it could be used well, I mean a PSO online download stage where your chao is thirsty and wants "the best fizzy drink in the world" so you go thu 3 levels just to find a "coca cola machine"....
cuts to a scene where the chao is drinking a can...... and you get the "coke cool bear sword"

advertising and they could make money out of it

[odifiend]

Lol...I like the coca-cola idea but at the same time I can see companies just pissing all over games by advertising in them.  I agree that the advertising banner is the most viable solution because it is least intrusive and there probably cheapest to make and set up.  I also think that it would be cool that if in a future PSO, there would be a huge billboard in Pioneer X and it changes to advertise various real products.  So nifty that could be...

[Bill Aurion]

Um, no...I play my games to escape reality, not to find myself being dragged back into it...And I know I'm not the only one...

[Pale]

I think banner ads and profitable will NEVER be in the same sentence...unless the word NOT is there too...

On the other hand, renting out virtual billboards and stuff in the virtual town that your character walks through would be a pretty hip idea.

Picture going up to one of those signs in a Zelda game and having it say....  Prince of Persion: The sands of time 2, out in just 3 weeks...

Ok, maybe that would be annoying...but kind of cool at the same time.  I guess you would have to do it  in a way that it wouldn't screw up the environment in a game...  Good in a realistic racer, bad in Zelda.  

[Bill Aurion]

Don't you DARE even speak of putting a billboard in a Zelda game!  And with Prince of Persia as an example, God forbid!

[Pale]

You one of those PoP haters Bill??  I do actually love that game.  

[mouse_clicker]

In game advertising wouldn't be a bad idea, if it suited the game. Take Shenmue, for instance- Shenmue works towards creating a realistic city that you interact with, so seeing a Pepsi or Coke machine, or even a game advertisement, wouldn't be out of place. Having the same concept in something like Zelda is just outrageous- I think Bill is toning down how horrible that would be.

[Pale]

I was half kidding, but i'm sure you knew that.  

[mouse_clicker]

Oh, of course, but even joking about something like advertising in Zelda is a mere step away from blasphemy.

[odifiend]

Quote
I think banner ads and profitable will NEVER be in the same sentence...unless the word NOT is there too...

Yeah banners could never fund the online experience but it would soften the blow if Nintendo decided to provide it free for their consumers.
Virtual billboards would be awesome.  I don't know if billboards are different where you live, but they are generally high up and out of the way.  The ad may attract your eye but it wouldn't invade the screen like a pop up.  I mentioned PSO as a good game for this, because it already has FAKE billboard ads.  Why not go the extra step?  That is by no means a huge sacrifice and will not destroy the essence of a game.
That said however they is no way in hell there should be advertising in Zelda.  It would be ever so wrong... But at the same time, I could see Mario with ads.  Sunshine would have been so great if Mario had to clean ads.  Maybe get a brush to go along with the waterpack.  If Mario party or Kart ever goes online, the towns and courses could be lined with Nintendo or 3rd party ads.
I still think 'commercials' would be the fastest way for Nintendo to get corporations to sponsor them though and therefore the best means.  

[Bill Aurion]

"But at the same time, I could see Mario with ads."

I'm absolutely speechless...

[odifiend]

Mario is more colorful and many of his adventures are based in towns.  Stop being foolish.  I'm not saying put them in Mario games (although some of the souless spinoffs it wouldn't alter the game at all) but if Nintendo had to pick a first party title to incorporate ads, I think Mario and better than that Animal Crossing would be among the best candidates.